Template synthesis of Ag/AgCl microrods and their efficient visible light-driven photocatalytic performance

•Preparation ofAg/AgCl microrods by reaction of Ag2WO4 microrods with NaCl solution.•Generation of metallic Ag is induced by the ambient light in the synthesis process.•Ag/AgCl shows excellent visible light-driven photodegradation of organic dyes.

Ag/AgCl microrods, aggregated by nanoparticles with a diameter ranging from 100 nm to 2 μm, were prepared by an ion-exchange reaction at 80 °C between Ag2WO4 template and NaCl solution. The existence of metallic Ag species was confirmed by XRD, DRS and XPS measurements. Ag/AgCl microrods showed excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B and methylene blue under visible light irradiation. The degradation rate constants of rhodamine B and methylene blue are 0.176 and 0.114  min−1, respectively. The cycling photodegradation experiments suggest that Ag/AgCl microds could be employed as stable plasmonic photocatalysts for the degradation of organic dyes under visible light irradiation.

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